Hitachi Vantara, the data storage, infrastructure and hybrid cloud management subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., has announced the appointment of Adrian Johnson as its new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), effective immediately.

Formerly Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Americas and Asia Pacific, Johnson will now lead the company’s global sales strategy. His responsibilities include aligning go-to-market execution with strategic initiatives that accelerate adoption of Hitachi Vantara’s products, services and solutions, including the flagship Virtual Storage Platform One (VSP One) unified data platform.

Johnson reports directly to Sheila Rohra, Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Vantara, and will serve on the company’s executive committee.

“Adrian brings a wealth of experience that’s essential to achieving our goals as a company, particularly as we strengthen our sales discipline and grow our block storage business,” said Sheila Rohra, CEO of Hitachi Vantara.

“Data infrastructure is playing an increasingly critical role in powering enterprise AI, and our award-winning portfolio of AI and storage solutions, combined with Adrian’s proven sales leadership, positions us strongly to deliver meaningful outcomes for our customers and partners.”

Based in Santa Clara, Johnson joined Hitachi Vantara in 2019 as Vice President and Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, where he delivered 30% year-over-year business growth. In 2022, he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager for Asia Pacific, successfully guiding the region through the global pandemic while strengthening channel and partner ecosystems.

In 2024, Johnson assumed responsibility for both the Americas and Asia Pacific regions as Senior Vice President and General Manager. During this time, he worked closely with customers to support digital transformation initiatives, unlock insights from data, and integrate AI and sustainable practices into enterprise strategies.

“Hitachi Vantara has the most innovative and customer-focused data storage and hybrid cloud solutions in the market today,” said Johnson.

“My goal is to expand our leadership position by aligning the latest innovations, including the VSP One Block High End platform, with a focused global sales strategy to drive growth and long-term market leadership.”

Johnson brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across SaaS, cloud, data management, security, infrastructure, services and consulting. Prior to joining Hitachi Vantara, he held senior leadership roles at Liferay Inc., Dell, Fuji Xerox and Sun Microsystems.

He is a graduate of the Royal Australian Naval College and holds a master’s degree in business and information technology from the Australian Graduate School of Management.